Wu Peifu

Wu Peifu (22 April 1874-4 December 1939) was a Chinese warlord, politician, and general during the early 20th century.

Biography
Wu Peifu was born in Penglai, Shandong, China in 1874, and he joined the Beiyang Army after graduating from the Baoding Military Academy. Wu was one of Yuan Shikai's supporters after the Xinhai Revolution, fighting against Cai E's army in Sichuan during the National Protection War of 1916. In 1920, Wu Peifu supported the overthrow of Duan Qirui's government, forming a power-sharing government with Zhang Zuolin. However, Zhang Zuolin would launch his own uprising, deteriorating Wu Peifu and Cao Kun's control over the provinces before it was crushed. In 1923, he gained the support of the United Kingdom and the United States for massacring striking Hankou-Beijing Railway workers, at the cost of Chinese support. Duan Qirui would overthrow Wu that same year in another clique conflict, and Wu Peifu became the warlord of Hubei and Henan in central China. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Wu refused to collaborate with Japan unless every last Imperial Japanese Army soldier was withdrawn from northern China, and the Japanese poisoned him in December 1939.